Golf Chipping Tip: Hit a Better Golf Chip with Chipping Visualization

Symptom: Your golf chipping technique leaves you far from the hole. Your golf chips are usually struck as intended but just don’t end up close enough.

And of course you don’t get up and down as often as you would like, and your handicap stays stubbornly high…

Overview: Before hitting your golf chip, imagine tossing the ball underhand to a particular spot, and the subsequent roll to the cup. Then execute your chip.

Why it works: Imagination and visualization are crucial elements of golf, and especially the short game. We all get wrapped up in technique and swing execution from time to time, and forget about the really simple idea of making the ball end up in the right place.

Your Golf Chip Needs Visualization

Phil Mickelson visualizing a landing spot for his chip 30 feet right of the hole.

By thinking about tossing the ball with an underhand motion, you focus only on where you want to ball to go, not on the mechanics of executing the chip shot. This often helps you visualize and execute a better chip. Of course, a properly struck chip will have some backspin (depending on the lie) which will limit the roll somewhat. But the basic idea stands — pretending to lob the ball with an underhand motion to your chosen landing spot will help you visualize your shot and improve your chances of making the ball end up where you intend.

This is especially important on a long chip, or a chip with a lot of break to it. You need to land the ball on a spot that is both far from and not in line with the hole. That was the situation confronting Phil Mickelson in the video below — have a look:

See how Phil looks at where he wants to land the ball, rather than at the hole? Please remember to keep your hands ahead of the ball while chipping, as Phil did in this video, to make sure you have a descending blow onto the ball so that you can actually execute that beautiful chip you have just visualized!

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